Walking for Vitamins

 

So yesterday was a great day.  The sun was finally out and it was just warm enough (for me!) to actually take my dogs out for a good long walk.  They were thrilled, I was thrilled!  It felt so good to just get OUTSIDE and move.  I mean I workout at home usually, but I really like when I can just move and actually be going somewhere, ya know?

And if you've read some of my other posts, you know I've talked about depression before.  But this year I actually noticed that I do in fact suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) as well.  Basically when you spend a lot of time indoors due to the cold and darkness of winter, your body is not exposed to the sun as much (if at all) and you lack your body's major source of Vitamin D.  It's one of the reasons more people get blah during the winter, but it can affect some people more deeply and I'm finding that I am one of those people.

Anyway, getting out into the sunshine was a huge mood booster!  I was a happy lady!  My dogs got so dirty and I didn't even care.  :)  Got some stuff done around the house, got some work done that I'd been putting off, and I ate all the way healthy for the rest of the day.  I even cooked!  Well not a lot, but I did make some healthy whole grain pasta for dinner and added in some veggies to make it even better.  A little olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic, onion powder, basil and a little Parmesan cheese and I was loving my dinner!

If you'd like to know more about why whole grains are so good for you, check out the post I did with my team blog here.  And I KNOW I don't need to tell you why veggies are so good!  LOL!

 

What is your favorite way to give yourself a little boost when you get the "blahs?"

Nutrition Boot Camp Version 3.0

Starting March 18th!

Around here there is still snow on the ground, but Spring is just around the corner!  And you know what comes after Spring...Swimsuit weather!  Shorts, skirts, tank tops, short sleeves...none of us wants to spend another summer hiding behind long sleeves and pants!
Now exercise is great for helping you burn calories and to look more toned, but the single most important thing you can do to get healthier, lose weight and feel better is to...

FIX WHAT YOU ARE EATING!

So join me for my new and improved Nutrition Bootcamp.  This is version 3.0 and I have some great new challenges included!  We'll work on what to eat, how to eat it, and how to still get your favorites while eating them in a healthier way!  We'll work on nutrition, but also on those things that trigger our bad eating.

Now, I am requiring that you get a bag of Shakeology to join this group.  However, I think it is so important that I am giving you a discount!  I really just want to help YOU!  And I KNOW that Shakeology is part of the answer.  We will use it as a meal everyday, but I will also give you bonus recipes for how to use it to make some pretty awesome desserts!  (think ice-cream, brownies, fudge, frosting, etc!)

So let's get down to the nitty gritty:

We start on March 18th!

This Nutrition group will be organized on Facebook in a private group. The goal of this group is to give you the tools you need to make better, healthier decisions when it comes to eating. You will learn what is good for your body and how to make the changes necessary to be healthy. I will be there with you through the entire process to offer support and guidance. All I ask is that you check in daily and be honest with yourself and the group. I can't really help you if I don't know what's going on.

The rules:

1. You must have a Facebook account. This is where I will be creating the group. It has the easiest accessibility, and I will be making the group private, so no one other than group members will see the posts.
2. You have to be willing to commit to this. It will last for 4 weeks, and will be a little more intense than my usual groups. Everyone in the group will be counting on each other for support, so we all need to be there.
3. You need to check in with the group every day at least once. You can check in as often as you like, but let us know what is going on with YOU at least once a day. This is one of the ways that we will be able to support each other so it is important. It will also help keep everyone going.
4. There will be times when taking a picture of what you are eating, how you made it, etc. and posting it in the group will be required.  So you need to be able to post pictures on Facebook.
5. You will have to use Shakeology for this challenge. We will be using it in a few different ways: as a meal replacement, as a metabolism booster, and we will be doing a Shakeology cleanse at the end of the 3rd week. Now I know that this can be somewhat expensive, but when broken down, it is only $4.00 per serving (that's cheaper than a Starbucks! And I'm giving you a discount!) You need to consider this an investment in yourself. And you are worth it. I seriously wouldn't require this tool if I didn't believe in it myself. For me it has cut the cravings completely out, helped me lose more weight, and I seriously feel better when I have it nourishing my body.
   I would recommend getting the whole bag and not the single serving packets because you get more for your money. Also, you should order this "HD", which is an automatic monthly shipment. This way the shipping is FREE and if you like it, it will keep coming without you having to reorder. If you don't want another bag after the group is finished, you can always contact customer service to cancel the HD anytime no questions asked at customerservice@teambeachbody.com.
   To order your Shakeology go to: http://myshakeology.com/toughmommy
6. You must have me as your assigned coach on Team Beachbody to do this challenge. If you don't have an account you can sign up on my website: http://beachbodycoach.com/toughmommy and click "Join." You can become a member for free. If you have an account already, you can set me as your coach by emailing coachrelations@teambeachbody.com and ask them to set your coach to ToughMommy, coach ID# 167517.
7. There will be no negative talk in the group. Not about others or yourself. This is important. We are going to be going through a number of tough weeks, getting over our cravings, learning to eat clean, and we need to be there to SUPPORT each other. Lift each other up, so to speak. Part of this learning process will inevitably be to learn to be kind to yourself, and change your internal dialogue to be more positive. And that helps us to cut down on the emotional eating.

So if you'd like to join me on this amazing journey, please email me at toughmommy2012@gmail.com with the subject heading "Nutrition Group 3.0" and I will let you know how to join. The space is limited, so let me know soon.

PINK! PINK! PINK!

So a month ago or so, I applied for an ambassadorship with Fit Approach which is a wonderful community of women who are out there blogging, posting, and working together to help people with their health and fitness.  And yesterday I finally heard back from the lovely ladies...and I got accepted to be a SWEAT PINK AMBASSADOR!

I am so excited and honored to become an ambassador for them!  I'm still learning more about the community, but I have to say that it feels really good to know that this wonderful group thinks that I am worthy of joining them because of the work I am doing to help inspire others to get healthy!

I was so excited that I couldn't even wait for them to send me my pink shoelaces!  So I got some already.

I ordered a tank top and a bumper magnet for my car too!  I can't wait to share and learn more from this amazing group of women!  Anyway, that's my awesome news!  Now I just have to figure out how to actually make myself #sweat pink! LOL!  :)

Ok, I'm a slacker... :(

So after the incident with the sparrow, the rest of the week was just bleh.  Valentine's Day was busy and had a lot of ups and downs.  But I will say that I was very happy to find out that my hubby actually spent time getting me a pretty cute present.

I love puzzles and fun pens!
And we can all play with the Happy-Time Heart!

And then Friday was THERAPY DAY.  I've realized that unfortunately a good therapy session can be very emotionally draining.  Especially when you realize that sometimes you sell yourself short.  Like focusing on all the issues that crop up and affect your day, instead of seeing how well you handled them.  So from now on I'm going to try to focus more on the better side of the story!

Other than that, this week has been a mish-mosh of trying out different workouts when I felt I had the time to squeeze them in.  So no real consistency...I mean I'm glad I squeezed some in, but it wasn't as fulfilling as knowing that I'm following a program from beginning to end.  I thought that maybe if I changed things up a bit, I could find my workout mojo again, but that's not it.  I just felt blah this week and I let myself wallow in it.  And you can't FIND workout mojo, you have to MAKE it by being consistent.  At least that's what I learned this week.

And I know that I also slacked here with my Blog.  I just didn't think I had anything to write about.  But that was just the "BLAH" talking.  Sharing here is just like working out.  Gotta MAKE the time and just do it.  There's always something to share!

So thank you to those who are following my stories and believing that they are worth reading!  I will continue to share my journey with you!  And I'm planning on getting some of my favorite recipes up here this week.  So keep checking in!

The Sparrow and the Spontaneous Workout

So I was sitting on the couch trying to decide what to write about today.  And then I heard a weird noise.  It kind of sounded like a pile of papers falling to the ground, but I didn't see anything like that.  I got up and looked in the powder room.  I thought maybe there was something in the exhaust vent, but nope.
Then I went into our laundry room, and found nothing there either.  But I did hear the noise again.
Hmmm.  The only other place I could think of to look was our small utility closet (which only has the furnace and the water heater in it).  I slid open the door....and out flies a frickin' sparrow. 

WHAT?!?!

How in the hell did a sparrow end up in my utility closet?  And now it's loose in my house!!!!  I was on the phone with my friend and she said to call Animal Control.  I said, "Are you kidding?  I can get rid of this by myself.  Besides, if I can't find it, I have 2 dogs and 2 cats in the house who would probably love to chase it and catch it for me."  Yeah, right!  I'll just tell you now that during the rest of this crazy story, my pets were useless and annoying!

Anyway, now I have to find the stupid thing.  I looked on top of all the tall furniture downstairs, but I didn't see it anywhere.  So I went upstairs.  Thank goodness the doors to my kids' bedrooms were closed.  Less places for me to look, and less places for it to possibly POOP! 

As I entered my bedroom, there it was!  Just hanging out on the curtain rod as if it just belonged there.  This whole thing was so absurd that I broke down laughing and decided I had to go back downstairs to get my cell phone so I could take a picture.  I mean, who was going to believe that I had a random sparrow in my house???
I came back upstairs and as soon as I had the bird lined up for a picture, it decided to fly at me and out of the room.  I gave up on the picture and rushed to close my bedroom doors.  (Of course one of my dogs kept getting in the way...UGH!  I gave up and locked her in the bedroom.)  So now the bird is flying back and forth in the upstairs hallway trying to find a place to land or a way out.  It ended up moving around a lot.  In the meantime I was trying to figure out the best way to either catch it (in a pillow case?  a large towel or bed sheet?), or to shoo it out the front door (which was not yet open.)
Of course just then it flew down straight to the front door, and then came back up and settled on the frame of the bathroom door.  Then on the vent, and back to the door frame.  I finally got my pictures!




Can you believe this crazy bird? 
I actually felt kind of bad for it. 
It was obviously stressed out.



 

 

Anyway, to make a very long story short...after locking up both dogs and one cat in different bedrooms, chasing after the bird with a bed sheet, I decided that shooing out the front door was the best option.  I chased it downstairs, where it happily perched on a wall hanging, I opened the front door and tried to hold open the storm door so it would just leave.  Nope!  Had to prop the door open and chase it out.  Bye-Bye Birdie!

 

So after all of the hullabaloo, I realized that I had just spent 30 minutes straight running up and down my stairs, doing squats every time that damn bird tried to swoop over my head (which was a lot), and laughing pretty much the entire time (and for a good hour after as I related the story to various people).  I got in a serious workout!  I worked all my leg muscles, my glutes, and my abs!  How do you like that? 

I decided that Yoga was the way to go for workout #2!  I obviously needed to relax after all the craziness!

 

Do you have any funny, crazy animal stories?

Grrr...and cleanse results

Do you ever just wake up on the wrong side of the bed?  Oh boy did I do this today!  I really hate that feeling and while you are stuck in it, there's not a lot you can do, other than go hide away from the world until it goes away.  But most of us don't really have that choice.
So instead, I got up, helped get my kids up, got annoyed with them (for being slow), went downstairs, got annoyed with my husband (for putting something in the wrong place), and then realized just how grumpy I was. 
Obviously these were not legitimate reasons for getting mad at everyone, so I took a deep breath, told them all I was sorry I got up in a yucky mood, and then left the room.  (Thank goodness my husband is so awesome, and home today so that he could take the kids to school after making them breakfast and packing their lunches!  Like I said, awesome.)
By the time I came back everyone was gone and I had a little time to think about why I was so pissed off at the world.  I have a lot to do (the usual suspects, plus a few crafty projects and some sewing.)  I have a lot of people depending on me to be there for them (family friends clients, other coaches, etc.)  I wish my body was already where I want it to be (but at least I'm making progress here.)  And I'm tired (not getting to bed early enough.)
Once I was able to name what was bothering me, I was able to sort through it and put all these feelings where they belonged.  Ahhh...like a weight lifting.

Anyway, that's how I started my day.  On the plus side, I got on the scale and was down 2 more pounds today.  Woo HOO!  And I noticed that my hands were not even that swollen anymore.



I hope you can see the difference.  I can honestly say that they feel soooo much better!

Well I hope your day started better than mine.  What do you do when you wake up as a grumpy grump?

Ahhh...the Cleanse

So you know I failed at that 2-day fasting thing (and I really don't recommend it either). But I really need to get all this salt and sugar that's still stuck in my body, holding a bunch of water, O-U-T out!
So here's what I'm doing.

I spent the day yesterday drinking shakes and a fruit smoothie (1 banana, 1 apple, water and ice...YUM!) for my snack.  And I had a lovely salad with grilled chicken for dinner.  But today is when the fun really starts!

IT'S WORKING!

You know it's working when you have to pee like every 30 minutes!  Woo HOO!  Bye-bye extra water weight.  See ya never!!!!

Anyway,  I've lost 1.5 pounds since yesterday, and I hope to lose a little more.  But the best part is that the swelling in my hands and knees is going down and I am ecstatic about that. 

I'll let you know the final results after tomorrow.  Wish me luck!  I'm off to do some yoga...ahhh...

Carrot Cake Smoothie...Almost

Since smoothies are a great way to get in some much needed fruits and veggies, I'm trying a lot of new recipes.  Ok, so they aren't "recipes" yet since I'm just making it up as I go along, but at least I'm trying right?
So my goal right now is to figure out how to make a smoothie taste like carrot cake.  I almost got there yesterday.  SO CLOSE!  But not quite.  Alas, I will have to keep trying.  But here is the recipe I came up with so far.  I liked this one.  It was pretty good for not being quite right.  And it has a bunch of healthy goodness in it.  Even some omega-3's!


Almost Carrot Cake Smoothie
6 oz water
3/4 cup cooked carrots
1/4 cup dark sweet cherries (I used frozen)
2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp walnuts
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 medium-large strawberries (also frozen)
3 pkt. Truvia (Stevia sweetener)
6 ice cubes

Mix all ingredients in blender until fully combined.  Add more water if needed.





I think my biggest problem was adding in the strawberries.  I hoped they would add in some sweetness, but they kind of took over.  Maybe I should just call this one a Strawberry-Carrot Cake Smoothie...
Anyway, enjoy this if you try it.  And I'll let you know when I get the recipe perfected!

Purple sweat pants...and the Shake mistake!



Ok, so as much as I'd prefer for people to think I'm way cool (cuz I so am!) I will admit that the dorky side of me tends to pop out at times (ok, a lot of times....Shhh!)
So I was picking up my kids and one of their friends the other day at school, and when I got home I actually took a moment look at myself...OH BOY!

Seriously?  What was I thinking?  PURPLE sweat pants and SLIPPERS!


OMG!  What was I doing?  In that moment I realized that I was turning into one of THOSE moms!  You know the ones I mean...those women who wear crappy clothes or pajamas to drop off and pick up their kids at school because they think no one will see them, or they just don't give a crap.  Well, I do NOT want to turn into one of those.  I mean, I don't really care what other people think, but I care about what I think about myself, ya know?  No more of this silliness!  Even if those pants are great for cleaning the house...they must burn!

Yesterday (the next day) I made sure that this was never going to happen again.  I made sure that I got DRESSED to go pick up my kids.




Oh yeah!  Do you know what a difference getting dressed can make to your overall mood?  I felt so much better about myself when I picked up my kids.  We even went shopping since I was in such a good mood!  Nothing like a good pair of jeans and some awesome boots to make a girl feel human.  :)

So I also tried a new recipe with my Shakeology yesterday.  I mentioned earlier this week that I was trying to get in all my 9 servings of fruit and veggies a day.  And a friend of mine managed to get 6 into her shake that morning.  I was inspired to try to do the same thing, mostly because I'm lazy about cooking, and also because her shake sounded so good!  The only thing I didn't have that she used was cherries.  Hmmm...I had just been to the store so I knew I had some new frozen stuff.  I looked in the freezer and remembered that I had cranberries.  Ok, that should kind of work.  I mean I know they are kind of tart and tangy, but they're sweet too.  So I threw them in.


Almond milk, Chocolate Shakeology, baby spinach, baby kale,
banana, flax seeds, cranberries, mango, and some cantaloupe.

That was such a mistake!  I mean I know that cherries with chocolate are awesome, but I didn't realize quite how unawesome cranberries with chocolate (and all that other stuff) would be. 

BLECH! 

Guess what though...I drank it anyway.  I know, it was totally gross, but it was my fault that I ruined it and I just couldn't stand to let all those other ingredients go to waste.  Plus it WAS healthy, just not so tasty. 

I think from now on, I'll stick to my regular recipe.  Although I did pick up some frozen cherries when I was out shopping in my hot mama boots!  :)

What's the craziest clothing story you have?  I'd love to hear it!